3 & 4 February 2025

We started Tuesday with a walking tour. It was over three hours but very enjoyable and well worth it. Our guide, Steve, sought out shade at pretty much every stop and occasionally found places where we could sit.

In the gardens we learned that the white ibises we saw are affectionately known as ‘bin chickens’ (aka trash chickens). One of Sydney’s radio stations hosted a ‘National Love a Bin Chicken Day’ last year.

We also heard about The Garden Palace, which held thousands of pieces of art, especially Aboriginal art, and very unfortunately burned down in 1882. It was suspected arson by the wealthy people living behind the palace who wanted a better view of the harbor.

This plaque for the palace incorporates a typically Aussie sense of humor:

Later in the tour, our guide told us about Mary Haydock, an eighteenth century English-born woman. At age 13, she dressed as a boy, stole a horse and ran away from home. This earned her 7 years transportation in Australia.

She was assigned to be a nursemaid until she married Thomas Reibey and, following his death in 1811, took over his business. By 1817, when Mary was 40, she was estimated to be worth £20,000 – £3.5 million today. She is now on the Australian $20 note.

Mary was a favorite of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who transformed Sydney from a prison town to a more desirable destination. When he arrived in 1809, prisoners made up almost the entire population. They worked about the city during the day and got drunk and gambled much of the night.

Macquarie introduced system for shortening sentences based on good behavior and built barracks to house several hundred prisoners, so they would not be wandering about overnight.

On the opening day of the barracks, Macquarie publicly pardoned the architect who designed the building, Francis Greenway of Bristol(!) who had been sentenced to transportation for forgery. This was the first signal to prisoners of Macquarie’s inclination toward rehabilitation opportunities.

The tour ended at a brewery, where we sampled the beer and had a late lunch. For anyone with plans to visit Sydney, the tour company was Local Sauce. 

We went back to the hotel for a little rest and cool down. After a light dinner, we did our most exciting activity in Sydney – the Bridge Climb.

The peak of Sydney Harbour Bridge is 134 meters above the water and is the world’s tallest steel arch bridge. It opened in 1932 after 8 years of construction, used almost 53,000 tonnes of steel, and is 1,149 meters long.

The climb was incredible. At the very top, we also witnessed a drone light show celebrating Lunar New Year, which was very cool.

After, we grabbed a much-needed snack and very good whiskey cocktails at The Doss House before tucking in for the night.

We don’t have much to report today as we spent much of the day flying to Cairns. Our feet are very glad for the rest! We’re checked into our hotel and will explore the town soon and pick a place for dinner.